Little maintenance required

The cost effectiveness of a cogeneration unit depends on the cost of installation, the terms and unit cost of energy supply (comparative cost of primary energies, cost of mains connection and purchase of electricity, etc.) - and maintenance costs. On a conventional cogenerator these can amount to 30% or more of the net savings. Maintenance operations are mainly required for the heat engine, which must be reconditioned yearly. You can well imagine the cost of maintaining a conventional engine weighing 300 kg (for 30 kW), with skilled staff sent out to the site. The MRCC module, weighing less than 90 kg for an output of 30 kW, is easy to handle; it can be simply replaced by a standard module, taken to the workshop by van and reconditioned there at little cost.

Very long lifespan

Owing to the MRCC principle and our technological choices, we can aim for a lifespan for our MRCC Cogen~30/30x units that fully meets the requirements of micro-cogeneration, i.e. roughly 30,000 hours (3650 hours a year in operation for 8 years). Competitor products in this range of power output use engines derived from automobile technology and designed to run for some 210,000 km, equivalent to a nominal lifespan of 3,000 hours at an average 70 Km/h (lifespan only one-tenth of the actual requirement for micro-cogeneration).

Natural gas as energy source

The MRCC is purpose-designed to run on natural gas, unlike the automobile-standard engines currently used in micro-cogeneration units. These engines, designed to run on petrol or diesel, are converted to run on gas before being incorporated in the generator. This reconditioning operation is quite complex and costly; it involves adapting the engine to controlled ignition (diesel engines) and to the constraints of using natural gas (valves have to withstand higher temperatures, compression rate must be altered, etc.).

Vibration-free

The moving parts create no unbalance that might cause vibration. Provided intake and exhaust are properly managed, the MRCC will be significantly quieter than a conventional engine. This is a clear advantage for its intended stationary use, with continuous operation at full power round the clock, usually in residential areas.